Savvy Shopper: Understanding the difference between ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates

‘Use by’ and ‘best before' dates are very different 

'If it smells ok, it should be ok.'

There’s a big difference between ‘use by’ and ‘best before' dates and it is worth knowing to avoid unnecessary food waste.

According to Safefood.ie, you should never eat food past its ‘use by’ date but the ‘best before’ date gives you more wiggle room.

They said that ‘best before’ refers to quality, so food is still safe to eat after the given date, but the flavour or smell may be affected.

Safefood.ie point out that ‘best before’ is used on foods with a longer shelf-life, like pasta and breakfast cereal.

Bacteria can’t usually grow on these foods so food poisoning is not a concern.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

A sniff test should do the trick - if it smells ok, it should be ok.

Champ of the Week

Farmsy.ie is an online farm shop based in County Cork.

Kathy McSweeney would like to nominate online farm shop, Farmsy.ie for Champ of the Week.

Kathy said she and her family are big fans of Farmsy, an online farm shop based in County Cork that delivers fresh produce weekly. 

She said they get organic eggs delivered to their door every weekend from Michael who she said is “extremely nice”. Kathy said it is a superb service which allows them to get fresh produce every week from a local Irish business. Kathy said she loves that it is really a field to fork store. 

The company also has a policy of using minimum packaging when boxing orders and they collect delivery boxes for reuse. The company said they pride themselves on knowing their suppliers personally and ensure transparency on every product.